


Stay Awake

by thenoodledream



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Hurt Castiel (Supernatural), Hurt/Comfort, Injured Castiel (Supernatural), Mother Hen Dean Winchester, Post-Episode: s15e13 Destiny's Child, Suspense, Team Free Will (Supernatural), The Empty (Supernatural), Whump, Worried Sam Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24219715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenoodledream/pseuds/thenoodledream
Summary: Castiel must go to The Empty to gather information about The Occultum. But in order to get there, he has to be dead. Or almost.  When Sam and Dean realize what their friend has done, they do everything to help comfort the fallen angel.Spoilers for Season 15 episode 13! An alternate version of how I wanted the scene to play out (aka more whump)
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
Comments: 5
Kudos: 61





	Stay Awake

**Author's Note:**

> kept the structure of the original scene but added my own twist. enjoy! my first fanfic pls be nice <3

A warm glow flashed throughout the bunker as Sam and Dean crossed back into earth realm. Their visit to Hell was a bust. Their search for The Occultum was fruitless. And they were no closer to stopping God.

“Guys you’re back” Jack said calmly. Dean was about to make a sarcastic remark about this being a sadistic Easter egg hunt, but stopped short when his eyes fell on Castiel’s still form. The angel’s face was sickly pale.

“Jack. What the hell?” Dean exclaimed, concern rising in his voice. Castiel’s head was lulled to one side, his eyes shut tightly with a pained expression.

“He’s dead.” Jack said lightly. Sam and Dean felt their heart violently plummet to their stomach. Dead?

“Kind of. For now.”

“What?” Sam retorted, his eyebrows furrowing in concern and confusion.

“Cas went to The Empty _hopefully._ To find Ruby _hopefully_. To find where this Occultum thing is located… _hopefully._ ” Jack said causally. But his voice wavered slightly as he noticed Sam and Dean did not look happy. Sam rushed over to Castiel’s side, hands gently grasping his neck checking for a pulse. The angel’s skin was frighteningly cold.

“It’s barely there Dean.” Sam gasped. “Bring him back. Now.” Dean growled, unable to mask his annoyance with both angels. Why would Cas do such a stupid thing? If only Jack had his soul, he could have talked the idiot out of it. Cas wasn’t allowed to make stupid decisions. Only he was allowed that privilege. Jack immediately opened the flask containing Castiel’s grace. A soft, but vibrant blue light swirled into Castiel’s mouth. The seconds ticking by were agonizingly slow. The angel still showed no sign of life and nausea started to hit his stomach.

_Darkness seeped into every fibre of Castiel’s being. His grace, weak as it was already, was diminished to a pathetic flickering light here. Memories of his previous visit to The Empty saturated his thoughts. He never wanted to come back here. To be shrouded in shadows left with grueling regret and guilt. No sunlight. No hope. No Sam and Dean._

_But here he was._

_“I know with have a deal feathers.” The Empty taunted, casually raising it’s hand and sharply twisting it’s fingers. Hot pain exploded in Castiel’s chest, slowly crawling towards his limbs. His chest tightened and breathing became difficult. A pained yell escaped his clenched teeth as he was brought down to his knees._

_“You’re not dead yet… but for the time you’re here I can make you wish you were.” It hissed, effortlessly clenching it’s fist tighter as it mussed over Castiel’s pained expression. Now Cas knew he has been through worse pain. But this definitely just made it to the Top 5._

_“You can’t…. hurt me. Jack said we were on the same side… against Chuck.” Cas gasped wearily, the pain had gotten more and more intense. It felt like his insides were being twisted and pulled out. His grace cowered in pain as darkness seeped into it. “I’m on death’s side.”_

“Come on wake up pal.” Dean murmured, winching at the thought of Castiel being trapped in The Empty forever. Castiel’s lips started to take on a pale blue tint. Without the presence of its owner, the vessel was rapidly decaying.

_Cas grimaced, gasping in pain as the grip around his grace tightened. He wanted to snarl a sarcastic retort that would make Dean proud, but he couldn’t get his mouth to form words._

“Come on Cas. Come on...” Dean murmured, desperation on the edge of his voice.

“ _Funny thing about her plan though. She didn’t say anything about needing you.”_

_This time Cas couldn’t keep his cry in. He could feel every single one of his veins burning as if they were filled with acid. His knees finally buckled unable to support his shaking frame any longer. He collapsed to the ground, his head slamming into the rough surface. Black dots danced around his vision, threatening to drag him into unconsciousness. If he passed out now there was no way he could return to Earth. He took a shaky breath in: focus. Ruby had just told him where to find The Occultum. Who would have guessed it was an actual place? Now knowing that Jo had set up the Winchesters on a false lead to Hell, he hoped that they were okay… His thoughts scattered as cries were ripped from his throat. The pain was unbearable. Loud screaming filled his head and it took a few second for him to register that it was his. He desperately clawed away from the dark abyss of unconsciousness._

_Suddenly he felt his weight getting lifted as he felt his connection back to earth was re-opened. Castiel’s squirming form started to rapidly fade away, returning to the earthly realm in the nick of time. Castiel grudgingly made a mental note to help Jack work on his timing._

_“See you soon.” The Empty hummed._

“Cas!” Dean blurted.

Castiel’s eyes flung open, his vison a bright blurry mess. A horrid coughing fit racked his body. His hands flung to his temples in a feeble attempt to bring some sort of comfort to his screaming headache. The familiar scent of old books and bourbon whiskey brushed his senses. He was back at the bunker. A small sense of relief flooded into his body. He was back home. Even though he was out of The Empty, he could still feel the horrid shadows strangling his grace.

“Cas, It’s us. You’re safe now. Just breathe.” Sam spluttered. He was not sure if it was meant to comfort the angel or himself. Castiel immediately stumbled out of his chair, barely feeling Sam’s stern grip on his shoulder trying to stable him.

“Cas stop moving! Sit down. Relax.”

“I’m… fine. Let me …need a moment.” Castiel wearily murmured between loud coughs, one hand on his temple the other weakly trying to push the younger Winchester off him. His coughs were getting louder and his body began to shake. Panic set in as he began to sway. He sensed his grace was dangerously close to burning out. How incredibly inconvenient.

“Like hell you are Cas. You’re obviously not.” Dean huffed harshly, but his face was etched with worry. Cas took a few shaky steps forwards away from the table as he opened his mouth to spit out a weak retort. But instead of words, a pained cry ripped from his throat along with something else. Blood. Black dots seeped into his vision and this time he couldn’t fight it. His knees failed him as his body gave out. Sam quickly caught the angel’s collapsing form, supporting his entire weight.

“Damnit Cas!” Dean exclaimed, rushing over to his side. Sam and Dean gently pushed Castiel’s limp arms over their shoulders as they supported him. Castiel’s body continue to contort in pain as more bloody coughs rang out.

“Mmm… fine.” Castiel murmured barely a whisper, cracking open his eyes but they were unfocused.

“Keep telling yourself that bud. You’re not.” Dean said sternly. Castiel replied with an annoyed hum. His eyes felt heavy and his muscles involuntarily began to relax under his coughing fit. The small increase in Cas’s weight told Dean that the angel was close to passing out. Meanwhile Jack was just sitting at the table looking nonchalant at the scene unfolding. Perhaps if he had a soul he would have cared. All he saw were two mortal men helping an all-powerful celestial being. If he could feel, he assumed he would have felt pitiful.

“Jack. What’s wrong with him?” Sam asked, as they gently maneuvered the barely lucid angel back onto the chair.

“His grace is incredibly damaged. I can sense it’s diminishing-- it might burn out soon. He should be dea-“ Jack said lightly, tilting his head in curiosity.

“-So how can we fix it?” Dean interjected with harsh annoyance. He did not want to hear the end of that sentence. Not now. Not ever.

“You can’t. He just needs time to heal on his own. Nothin’ you can do.” Jack said plainly, already starting to flip through the books in front of him out of boredom.

Dean gritted his teeth. This kid needed an attitude check.

Castiel’s pained coughs made Dean’s heart sink, melting away his annoyance with Jack.

“The… Occultum. I know…. where it is.” Castiel murmured, his voice small and hoarse from coughing.

“Cas, seriously. Forget about that for now. You need to rest.” Sam said gently with a frown, concern rising as noticed the angel’s temperature was still sickly cold.

“That was the stupidest idea Cas. What were you even thinking? We could have lost you.” Dean tried to growl but failed miserably as his voice cracked with concern.

“… you would have… done the same.” Castiel retorted in annoyance. He hated being weak, especially in front of Sam and Dean. He was supposed to be an all-powerful angel. But here he was, weakly coughing and feeling humiliatingly human. Dean sighed. Castiel was right. But that did not mean he agreed with it.

“Come on. Let’s get you somewhere comfortable.” Sam said, gently lifting the angel out of the chair. Cas immediately flinched away from his touch, letting out a pitiful whimper.

“…. hurts…”

“Sorry, sorry.” Sam said, slowing his movements trying his best to ease the angel’s pain.

“Cas it’s time for an angel nap or whatever it is that you do. You deserve one.” Dean said as the two boys carried the weak protesting angel out of his seat.

“He needs to wait for his grace to stabilize first. If he falls asleep right now, he’ll die.” Jack chimed in, not bothering to look up from the Country Living magazine he was reading. Dean’s heart sank. One of the boys was knocking on death’s door again. Couldn’t they catch a break for just once?

“Alright. We need you to stay awake pal. Cas?” Dean said softly shaking Castiel’s shoulder. Castiel let out a barely audible hum of pure annoyance but seemed to comply. Together, the two boys carefully carried the angel towards an empty bedroom in the bunker. Just as they were opening the door, another violent round of bloody coughs took over. Without communicating, Sam and Dean immediately took a U-turn towards Dean’s room instead.

The angel was caringly lowered into the soft mattress, his coughs less severe as he was propped comfortably against a pillow. His eyes slid shut as he sank deeper into the warm bed.

“Cas you can’t fall asleep yet. Stay awake for a little longer for us. Can you do that?” Sam said softly, gently shaking the angel away from the grips of unconsciousness.

“mmm…okay.” Castiel mumbled unconvincingly, struggling to keep his eyes opened. If Jack was right, there was no magic spell or potion they could use to immediately heal Cas. They just had to wait it out, but he wasn’t sure how much longer the angel could hold on. Dean needed to think of something quick.

“Hey Cas. Wanna hear a story?” Dean chimed, desperately trying to mask his panic for the angel’s sake. This seemed to peak Cas’s interest as his bleary eyes slowly focused on Dean. Dean taking this as a yes, started spewing out stories from back before they met Cas. An hour easily slipped by as both boys reminisced over the simpler hunting days and the greatest hits of Team Free-Will. Cas, intrigued by stories of Sam’s college days, managed to stay awake occasionally nodding his head to show he was engaged. After checking Castiel’s temperature for the 3rd time within the hour despite Castiel’s protest, Sam was satisfied when it reached a healthy 36.50 degrees. The angel was no longer in danger of shadows engulfing him, as what was left of his grace started to burn brightly again.

“You can get some rest now.” Sam said gently. Not needing any other more convincing, Castiel gratefully let his eyes close and let out a few coughs before giving himself into exhaustion. Their search for The Occultum could wait, they were long overdue for a rest day anyways. With a book in Sam’s lap and laptop in Dean’s, the two boys sat on the floor against the bed in peaceful silence, comforted by the sound of Castiel’s gentle slumber.

**Author's Note:**

> Hoping to keep you entertained while we wait for the rest of season 15 to air. If there is interest, I’ll write more like these!  
> Stay safe out there.  
> \- thenoodledream


End file.
